Sep. 18, 2005

Hug High School principal Andrew Kelly looks on earlier this month as Jason Urmston teaches a class in world history at the school.

Written by

Hug High School principal Andrew Kelly chats with student Armon Johnson, a junior, earlier this month in a walkway at the school

Andrew Kelly's education career

2002-05: Principal of Teddy Roosevelt High in Portland, Ore.

Managed student body of 900.

Mediated gang conflicts between Latino, black and European American groups.

Implemented three small learning communities.

Increased Advanced Placement offerings through open enrollment.

Created the "Step Up" program that supported the most at-risk incoming 9th graders and guided them through high school.1998-2002: Principal of Clover Park High in Lakewood, Wash.

Managed student population of 1,500.

Created "Student Assistance Team" which paired a counselor and an administrator together to work with the same students for four years in an effort to personalize their education.

Completed $2.2 million addition to school, adding eight classrooms.

Collaborated with colleges, community and two military installations in support of the school.

Increased schools technology from less than 50 computers to more than 250 in four years.1996-98: Director, Yelm Alternative School in Yelm, Wash.

Managed a student population of 150.

Improved relations between alternative school and school district.1996-98: Assistant principal, Yelm High.1994-96: Assistant principal, Chehalis Middle School, Chehalis, Wash.1991-94: District music director, teacher, 5-12 choral and instrument music director of the Zillah School District in Zillah, Wash.FamilyKelly and his wife, Jennifer, have six children. With the exception of daughter Marissa, all of the Kelly children were adopted through the Washington State Foster System and share a common ethnicity of African American or multi-racial. Jennifer Kelly was a special education teacher and middle school counselor in Chehalis, Wash., for 20 years before her retirement to be at home.

Hug High School Principal Andrew Kelly wears a Hawk tie with his school ID at the school on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005. Photo by David B. Parker.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Andrew Kelly has perhaps the toughest administrative job in the Washoe County School District.

Kelly, 35, is the new principal at Hug High School, which serves many low-income students in northeast Reno. His assignment is to rebuild a school that has deteriorated over the years.

The student population -- 76 percent minority -- has been plagued with low academic performance, black-versus-Hispanic tensions, graffiti, fights, broken windows and some of the worst test scores in the district.

The problems have chewed up past principals: Kelly is the fourth since January 2004. His predecessor lasted one year, stymied by still-pending lawsuits over student arrests by campus police.

At one point last year, the school had 60 broken windows. In the first two months of the last school year, 112 students were suspended, 34 for fighting.

"I flew in at spring vacation last year and spent about five hours here," Kelly said. "And honestly, it was the saddest thing I had ever seen."

Yet Kelly is different than his predecessors, some Hug students and teachers said. He comes with years of experience and expertise in turning out success stories at low-income-area high schools in Washington and Oregon. His sweeping changes at Hug have many students and teachers thinking that -- finally -- they have the answer for their beleaguered yet beloved school.

"It is truly a new beginning," said longtime Hug teacher Joan Carpenter. "We are doing things now that they never asked of us before."

Kelly said he is trying to make the school "student friendly." Much of the tension from last year has not surfaced so far this semester, students said.

"I feel safer," said junior Dori Douglas, 16. "I have not seen a fight yet and last year we had about 13 in the first week. Last year, the principal seemed to want to punish all of us for the whole year because of the fighting. But Mr. Kelly is starting out positive with us instead of negative."

Sweeping changes

Kelly's changes include the sweeping away of much of the previous staff. Kelly hired six new administrators and 10 new teachers.

"The decision was made last spring to move out some teachers," Kelly said. "People were told that serious changes were going to happen and they were given the option of transfering out. Then there was another group of people that were directly transferred out of the school, and, as far as I know, that has never been done before in the Washoe County School District."

A small army of maintenance workers -- more than were allotted to any other school -- removed graffiti, repaired lockers and cleaned up the campus over the summer. Broken windows are minimal, students said.

"We've had just one cracked window this year, that's all," said junior Kereiona Johnson, 15. "They (broken windows) are a sign of trouble. They also make us look poor."

The new staff and students must work harder, since the school day was lengthened.

"Last year, Hug had the shortest day of any of the high schools and this year, we have the longest," Kelly said, "Monday, Tuesday and Friday, we go from 8:15 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.). It doesn't make any sense that the lowest preforming school would have the shortest academic-focus time."

With the new staff came a new attitude. A commitment to at-risk students became a prerequisite for employment.

"Part of transforming a school is treating the kids the way you believe they can be rather than the way they are at the moment," Kelly said. "That is the hitch people get hung up on when they work at at-risk schools. They tend to think these kids are trouble, that we need more rules and tougher discipline."

Teachers and campus police appear to be less confrontational and more willing to help on an individual basis, some students said.

"We have a lot of new teachers and they all seem to care more about us," said sophomore Trinlock Lewis, 15. "Now the teachers are teaching us step by step. Last year they told us what to do and if we didn't do it, we got an F. Now, they go over things with us, step by step. It makes it easier to learn."

Dividing the school

The biggest change is that Kelly has divided Hug's 1,200 students into four smaller learning communities in the four main classroom buildings.

Each learning community has its own teachers, principal, dean, secretary, counselor and school office. Students take core subjects in the small-school atmosphere. Teachers and students will become better acquainted with each other, Kelly said. The time spent walking from class to class on the expansive campus is cut dramatically.

"I don't think it is doing it my way," Kelly said. "It is doing it the way that the national high school research indicates right now is the best way to do it for kids."

Hug needs to be student-friendly, Kelly said.

"We want to change where you are one kid in the middle of a student body of 1,200 to being a member of a smaller learning community of 300 to 400 kids that is self-contained, with a consistent group of adults working with them for four years," he said.

The small-school atmosphere makes it possible for more collaborative learning sessions. Kids sit around tables in many classes, sometimes discarding the traditional rows of desks.

"It makes it a lot easier to have all your classes in just one area," said junior Lee Loe, 17. "It has really helped out my schedule."

"It just seems now that there are more teachers and staff members to talk to," said senior Darren Shephard, 17. "You don't have to walk all the way up to the office anymore. You can just walk around the corner now if you need someone to talk to."

Kelly also moved the main office, which was on a hill atop campus, away from the classroom buildings. Kelly moved it to the library building in the center of the campus with easy access to the four learning communities.

Kelly constantly walks the halls of his four small schools, popping into classrooms.

"Kids know that I'm out a lot, so the likelihood of kids skipping out and hanging in the hall is lessened because they know that I will be there," Kelly said. "Teachers know that I will be coming into the classrooms, so the odds of them having down time or noninstructional time is pretty low. Everybody wants to be caught doing their best work."

Kelly has long-range plans to turn the former main office building into an early childhood learning center. He was reluctant to discuss it since the plan has not yet been approved by district trustees.

"We're thinking that a child-care center could house infants up to age 3, so the parents could be here in school," Kelly said.

A safer, cleaner campus

Kelly has resumed school dances, which had been canceled for about four years because of fears of fights and other confrontations.

"It was fun," Kereiona Johnson said. "Everybody was good. There were no fights."

Teachers walk the halls and sidewalks of the campus between classes, giving students a better sense of security.

"Adults are now everywhere to talk to," Kelly said. "It would be pretty difficult to get into trouble. A kid would have to blatantly want to violate the rules because adults are everywhere. It has made a difference."

School bells have been discarded. Since students don't have far to go to their next class, there's no need for a bell, which makes students jump up and leave even if the teacher is in mid-sentence.

Kelly did not close the campus but moved the student parking section to the west side of the school where the parking lot gates can be locked when school begins.

That reduced the number of students who left campus and did not return for afternoon classes and also incidents of nonstudents visiting the campus and sometimes causing trouble.

"There was some bizarre statistic about having 30 fights in 30 days on this campus last year," Kelly said. "And I suspect that at some point on this campus this year, we'll have a fight. But so far, no."

"So far, so good" could be Kelly's motto. Teachers said they are buying into the program.

"There's a new attitude up here," longtime football coach Rollins Stallworth said. "We see that there is a clear and precise direction that the administration wants to go. Things are upbeat and that feeling is contagious. Just like in the past when the negative behavior was here, that was contagious. We don't have to live up to the negative perceptions that were here before."